Shhhh! Don’t tell anybody, but this week I’m featuring songs about secrets.
And, of course, that means there will be plenty of cheatin’ songs, too.
Among the wide range of “secret” songs, there are a couple of recurring themes. Here’s a sampler of the many, many secret songs.
Hidden love
One common theme is keeping love secret:
• Doris Day, with a No. 1 hit and an Oscar-winning song, “Secret Love,” from the 1953 film “Calamity Jane.”
• The Ink Spots’ 1940 “Whispering Grass” — and British actors Windsor Davies and Don Estelle’s 1975 semi-comic remake, which was No. 1 in the United Kingdom for three weeks.
• The Beatles’ “Do You Want to Know a Secret.”
• The charming Chordettes song “Just Between You and Me.”
Lustful love
Then there’s a whole selection of songs about a guy with a real situation — he’s secretly in love with his best friend’s gal. You can track this repetitive theme through the years:
1958 — Gordon MacRae’s “The Secret.”
1961 — “Girl of My Best Friend,” by Ral Donner, one of the many Elvis sound-alikes.
1978 — The Cars’ “My Best Friend’s Girl.”
1981 — Rick Springfield’s “Jessie’s Girl.”
Secret locales
And then there are those places off limits to all but the in crowd:
• Archie Bleyer’s “Hernando’s Hideaway,” originally from the Broadway musical “The Pajama Game.”
• Jim Lowe’s “Green Door.”
A miscellaneous ‘Secret’
• Johnny Rivers’ “Secret Agent Man.”
And, of course, those cheatin’ songs
They make up a good portion of “secret’ songs. Here are a few of many:
• We’ll start with “Our Little Secret,” an aptly named song from the Broadway musical version of the 1960 Best Picture winner “The Apartment.” It’s about a rising young executive who quickly climbs the corporate ladder because of executives’ interest in his always-available, highly sought after, temporary love nest. “Our Little Secret” comes from the 2010 revival of the Burt Bacharach-Hal David musical “Promises Promises.”
• Leroy Van Dyke’s wonderful “Walk On By.”
• The Fleetwoods’ “Lovers by Night, Strangers by Day.”
• Billy Paul’s “Me and Mrs. Jones.”
• The Manhattans’ “Kiss and Say Goodbye.”
• Jo Stafford’s “Keep it a Secret.”
• Nancy Wilson’s “Guess Who I Saw Today.”
… And music’s two biggest secrets
• Second place goes to Carly Simon and the still-puzzling subject of the 1973 hit “You’re So Vain,” although what about that intriguing “David” clue?
• And the biggest musical mystery or “secret” remains Bobbie Gentry’s “Ode to Billie Joe,” the 1967 hit song about that June 3 “sleepy, dusty Delta day” and the preceding events. The meaning of the song, with its stunning use of dialogue, is still debated today: What were the girl and Billie Joe McAllister throwing off the Tallahatchie bridge?
… And we can’t forget a special day
We can’t overlook a new month and its goofy start — April Fool’s Day. Here’s a reprise of last year’s list offering 24 “foolish” songs you can use to celebrate — one an hour all day long and well into tomorrow.
